Agenda and draft minutes

The Licensing Panel considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor S Brookes be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:-

(1) the type of interest concerned

(2) the nature of the interest concerned; and

(3) whether they have or have not sat on a Planning Committee which has previously considered a planning application in respect of a licensed premises which is also subject to consideration for a premises licence as part of the agenda for this meeting.

If any Member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Chairman of the Panel will summarise the procedure and announce the equal maximum amount of time for each party to speak for the hearing.

A.         Items 1 and 4 (b) will be undertaken in private session by the Panel and not in the Meeting Room.

B.         Items 2, 3 and 4(a) will be recommended to the Panel to be held in public.

C.         The Panel may decide to exclude the public from all or part of a hearing where it considers that the public interest in so doing outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. (This includes a party and any person assisting or representing a party)

The Chairman explained the procedure including that an equal time limit of twenty minutes had been allocated for all parties.

To consider an application for a new Premises Licence for Downtown Grill, 111 Elizabeth Road, Blackpool, FY1 1LR.

A. Application and representations submitted. To consider the attached report.

B. Determination of the application for a new Premises Licence – Downtown Grill.

The Licensing Panel will indicate how the decision is to be communicated to interested parties.

The Licensing Panel considered an application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Downtown Grill, 111 Elizabeth Street, Blackpool. The application sought the provision of Late Night Refreshment Sunday to Thursday 23.00 to 00.00 and Fridays and Saturday 23.00 to 01.00. The applicant had agreed a number of conditions following mediation with the Lancashire Constabulary which were outlined in Appendix 4c to the agenda which included conditions on CCTV and an undertaking that the provision of Late Night Refreshment would take place by way of delivery off site only.

Mr Abbas, Director of the Applicant Walis Food Carner Limited, accompanied by a friend was in attendance and made representations to the Licensing Panel.

The applicant highlighted that the application represented a relatively modest change to the operation of the premises which had been a takeaway for a number of years. The applicant explained that due to the location of the premises the majority of trade would be by delivery. The applicant highlighted their view that the objection did not represent the view in the area and that a number of other local residents were supportive of the business and did not consider that there were issues with the business. The applicant concluded that they did not believe the application would undermine the Licensing Objectives.

The Licensing Panel noted that the objector, Mr Potts, had been notified of the hearing but was not in attendance. It agreed to consider the hearing in his absence and made reference to his written statement.

The Licensing Panel considered the application and representation carefully. It considered that given the mitigations offered in the mediation agreement, the lack of representations from responsible authorities and the relatively modest scope of the application that it did not believe that the application would undermine the Licensing Objectives. The Panel therefore concluded that the application should be granted.

Resolved:

That the application for a Premises Licence for Downtown Grill, 111 Elizabeth Street, be granted subject to the conditions outlined in the application form and the mediation agreement with Lancashire Constabulary.